Adjustable reclining chair



March 10, 1942. LUCKHARDT ETAL 2,276,053

ADJUSTABLE RECLINING CHAIR Filed July 24, 1939 Hans Z ur/r/zart/f W! Hr: fan Lor Patented Mar. 10, 1942 2,276,053 ADJUSTABLE anomnme 01mm Hans Luckhardt and Anton Lorenz, Berlin, Germany Application July 24, 1939, Serial No. 286,152 In Germany April 8, 1939 12 Claims.

Our invention relates to an adjustable reclining chair or the like, and more particularly to an adjustable reclining chair or the like provided with a leg-rest pivoted to the seat and a-mechanism for swinging said leg-rest about its pivot point when the back-rest or the seat is moved from one position into another.

In the hitherto known adjustable reclining chairs of above described type, the mechanism for swinging the leg-rest in dependence on the movement of the back-rest or seat is rather complicated and only permits an elevation of the leg-rest into a position inclined to the horizontal at an angle of about 45. Furthermore, the mechanisms of the hitherto known reclining chairs require a comparatively great reclining movement of the back-rest and the seat for said comparatively small lifting movement of the legrest, so that, in the extreme reclining position of the parts of the chair, on the one hand the back-rest and the seat are inclined backwardly to a great extent and on the other hand, the legrest is insufliciently lifted, so that the user of the chair cannot rest comfortably.

In our Patent 2,173,283, we describe an adjustable reclining chair, in which, according to a certain embodiment of the chair, the leg-rest may he swung almost into a horizontal plane and almost in line with the seat, when the back-rest is slightly moved into a slightly reclined position. In said reclining chair a back-rest, a seat, a legrest, a long connecting link and a short connecting link are pivotally interconnected with each other to form a polygonal structure, one point of said polygonal structure being pivoted to the support of the chair, and cooperating sliding means being arranged on the support and the seat. The mechanism of said reclining chair, however, requires the arrangement of the pivot points of the short connecting link at very advanced points of the chair structure. Moreover, the connecting link-means of said mechanism are arranged above the seat, and it has been found to be impossible to build a similar mechanism solving the same problem but having the connecting link-means below the seat. Furthennore, in many cases it is desirable to provide a reclining chair without a polygonal structure of the above described type, in which, however, the leg-rest may be swung almost in line with the seat, when the seat structure is only slightly moved into a slightly reclined position.

One object of our invention is to provide an adjustable reclining chair or the like, in which the leg-rest pivoted to the seat may be swung.

almost in line with the seat, when the seat structure is slightly moved from the sitting position into the reclining position, so that, in the reclining position of the parts of the chair, the user of the chair is in a very comfortable relaxed position having his legs supported in an almost horizontal plane and having his body in a slightly reclined position.

Another object of our invention is to provide an adjustable reclining chair, in which the mechanism controlling the swinging movement of the leg-rest from the sitting position into a substantially horizontal position is arranged below the seat.

A further object of our invention is to provide an adjustable reclining chair, in which the backrest is rigidly connected to the seat and the legrest may be swungalmost in line with the seat by a slight movement of the seat structure comprising the seat and the back-rest.

In order to carry out our invention into practice, we provide an adjustable reclining chair or the like comprising a support, a seat structure, said seat structure being movably mounted on said support, a leg-rest, said leg-rest being pivoted to the seat structure, a link, one end of said link being pivoted to an intermediate point of the leg-rest, and a bell-crank lever having a long arm and a short arm, said bell-crank lever being pivoted to the support, the long arm of said bellcrank lever being pivoted to the other end of said link, and the short arm of said bell-crank lever being operatively connected to an integral portion of said seat structure.

The above mentioned objects and advantages as well as other objects and advantages will be more fully disclosed in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification in which:

Fig. 1 is a side end view of an adjustable reclining chair, a part of the lower front portion of the support being broken away,

Fig. 2 is a front end view of the chair shown in Fig. 1, a part of the leg-restand a part of the lowerleft hand portion of the support being broken away, I

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are fragmentary views of different embodiments of the link and lever mechanism controlling the movement of the leg-rest, partly in section.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, I generally indicates a support formed of a continuous rod or the like bent in any suitable shape. The lower portion of the support I forms the ground engaging portion 30, the upper portion of the support forms the two arm-rests 32, one on each side of the chair. 2 generally indicatesthe seat structure comprising the seat 34 and the back-rest 36 immovably connected with each other. The seat structure 2 is pivoted to the support I at the point 3 near the ground engaging portion 30 thereof. 4 indicates a leg-rest hinged to the front end of the seat 34 at 5. A supporting means or lug I2 is rigidly secured to the lower front portion of the support I. I generally indicates a bell-crank lever having a long arm 9 and a short arm II. Said bell-crank lever I0 is pivoted to said supporting means or lug I2 at I3. The end of the long arm 9 of the bell-crank lever is pivoted to one end of a link 6 at 8, the other end of said link 5 is hinged to an intermediate point of the leg-rest 4 at I. The end of the short arm I I of the bell-crank lever I0 is pivotally connected with one end of a connecting link I4 at 20, the other end of said connecting link I4 is pivoted to 2. lug I5 rigidly secured to a lower extension 2a of the seat structure 2. A stop I6 arranged on the lug I2 serves as an abutment for the long arm 9, in order to limit its extreme right hand position (shown in dash lines), when the parts of the chair are in the extreme reclining position. The extreme sitting position'of the parts of the chair is limited by stops I9 arranged on the seat 34 and cooperating with the legrest 4.

The operation of the reclining chair is as follows:

When the user of the chair swings the seat structure 2 about the pivot point 3 through a small angle or from the sitting position (shown in full lines) into the reclining position (shown in dash lines), the extension 2a, I5 of the seat structure rotates the bell-crank lever I9 about the pivot I3 by means of the connecting link I4, and, in turn, the bell-crank lever swings the legrest 4 about the pivot 5 by means of the link 6. The described link and lever mechanism has a great ratio of transmission, so that the leg-rest 4 is rotated about the pivot 5 through an angle of more than 90 and is brought into an approximately horizontal plane almost in line with the 7 seat 34 as shown in dash lines, when the seat structure 2 is slightly rotated about the pivot 3 through the angle a and the seat 34 and back-. rest 36 are brought into a slightly reclined position.

The arrangement and the relative proportions of the parts of the link and lever mechanism are such that, in the sitting position, the angle 5 between the arm 9 and the link 6 is less than 180, for example about while, in the reclining position, the angle 7 between the arm 9 and the link 6 exceeds so that the load of the legs resting on the leg-rest 4 in its elevated position (dash lines) cannot cause a turning moment tending to return the parts of the chair from the reclining position into the sitting position. The extreme position of the arm 9 determining the angle '7 between the arm 9 and the link 6 is limited bythe stop I6, so that the legs resting on the leg-rest 4 are in a stable horizontal positionwhen the user of the chair is in a relaxed position.

If it is desired to return the parts of the cha r from the reclining position into the sitting posiis moved downwardly and rotates the bell-crank tion, small pressure is exerted on the front edge,

of the seat 34, whereby the extension 2a, I5 forming an integral part ofthe seat structure 2 lever ID in counter-clockwise direction by means of the link I4. Thus, the long arm 9 of the bellcrank lever returns-the leg-rest 4 from its elevated position into the sitting position by means of the link 6, until the leg-rest abuts against the stop I9.

While, according to Figs. 1 and 2, the extension 2a projects from a point of the seat structure 2 near the pivot point 3, the extension could also project from any other point of the seat structure, for example, the extension could be connected to the upper portion of the seat structure, if desired. Moreover, the extension could be entirely omitted without departing from the scope of the invention. If the extension 2a is omitted, the connecting link I4 is enlarged and is pivotally connected with a suitable point of the seat structure 2. Preferably, however, the connecting link I4 is pivoted to a point of the seat structure, which is not too far backward, so that a suflicient rotation of the bell-crank lever I0 may be obtained by a comparatively small rotation of the seat structure 2.

According to the embodiment shown in Fig. 3, a connecting link as indicated by I4 in Fig. 1 is omitted and the short arm II of the bell-crank lever is directly connected to the lug I5 of the extension 2a by means of a pivot joint 29. In order to avoid an undesired locking of the mechanism, in which the extension 2a rotates about the pivot 3 and the short arm II of the bellcrank lever pivotally connected to the extension 20 rotates about the pin I3 carried by the supporting means I2, the supporting means or link I2 is hinged to the support I at II,-so that it may compensate by slight movements about the point I1 the tendency of the ends of the extension and the short arm to depart from each other the joint 20. a;

According to the embodiments shown'in Figs. 4 and 5, the short arm II of the bell-crank lever is directly connected to the extension-2a, I5 of the seat structure by means of a pin and slot connection 200, I8, which permits a slight relative movement between the ends of the short arm and the extension during their rotation about the respective pivots I3 and 3, so that, in this instance, the supportiang means or lug I2 may be rigidly secured to the support I. According to I Fig. 4, the pin 200 is arranged on the short arm I I and the lug I5 of the extension 2a is provided with the slot I8 engaging said pin, while according to Fig. 5 the pin 209 is arranged on the lug I5 and the short arm II is provided with the slot I8.

While the drawing shows only a single linkand lever mechanism for the movement of the leg-rest in the middle of the chair, two link and lever mechanisms could be arranged, one on each side of the chair, if desired. Moreover, any other mechanism having a great ratio of transmission could be used instead of the mechanism shown in the drawing.

The side portions of the support I may be covered with a layer of a suitable covering material, such as fabric, leather or the like, so that the link and lever mechanim arranged below the seat is concealed.

In the embodiment shown in the drawing, the seat structure 2 comprises the seat 34 proper and the back-rest 36 forming an integral piece. If desired, however, the seat structure 2 could consist of several parts; for example, the back-rest could be movably and adjustably connected to the seat proper or could be formed of a separate piece rigidly connected to the seat.

While we have shown only a chair, we do not wish that the invention be limited to chairs only. The mechanism for moving the leg-rest may also be arranged in other articles of furniture, such as couches or the like.

We have described preferred embodiments of our invention, but it is clear that numerous changes and omissions may be made without departing from the spirit of our invention.

What we claim is:

1. In an adjustable reclining chair or the like, a support, a seat structure, said seat structure including a seat and a back-rest connected with each other at a fixed angle between the seat and the back-rest, said seat-structure being pivoted to said support, a leg-rest, said leg-rest being pivoted to the seat-structure, a link, one end of said link being pivoted to an intermediate point of said leg-rest, and a bell-crank lever having a long arm and a short arm,-said bell-crank lever being pivoted to said support, the long arm of said bellcrank lever being pivoted to the other end of said link, and the shirt arm of said bell-crank lever being operatively connected to said seat-structure.

2. In an adjustable reclining chair or the like, a support, a seat structure, said seat structure including a seat and a back-rest connected with each other at a fixed angle between the seat and end of said link being pivoted to an intermediate point of said leg-rest, and a bell-crank lever having a long arm and a short arm, said bell-crank lever being pivoted to said support, the long arm of said bell-crank lever being pivoted to the other end of said link, and the short arm of said bellcrank lever being operatively connected to said seat structure.

3. In an adjustable reclining chair or the like, a support, a seat structure, said seat structure being pivoted to said support, a leg-rest, said legrest' being pivoted to the seat structure, a link, one end of said link being pivoted to an intermediate point of said leg-rest, and a bell-crank lever having a long arm and a short arm, said bellcrank lever being pivoted to said support, the short arm of said bell-crank lever being operatively connected to an integral portion of said seat structure, the long arm of said bell-crank lever being pivoted to the other end of said link,

the angle between said long arm and said link opposite said leg-rest being less than 180 when the parts of the chair are in sitting position and exceeding 180 when the parts of the chair are in reclining position, so that the load resting on the leg-rest is prevented from causing a turning movement tending to return the parts of the chair from the reclining position into the sitting position.

4. An adjustable reclining chair or the like as claimed in claim 3, in which a stop is arranged on the chair structure, whichlimits the relative position between the long arm of the bell-crank lever and the link'in the extreme reclining position of the parts of the chair.

5. An adjustable reclining chair or the like as claimed in claim 3, in which stops are arranged on the chair structure, which limit the relative position between the long arm of the bell-crank lever and the link in th extreme sitting position of the parts of the chair.

6. In an adjustable reclining chair or the like, a support, a seat structure, said seat structure being pivoted to said support, a leg-rest, said legrest being pivoted to the seat structure, a link, one end of said link being pivoted to an intermediate point of said leg-rest, a bell-crank lever having a long arm and a short arm, said bellcrank lever being pivoted to said support, the long arm of said bell-crank lever being pivoted to the other end of said link, and a connecting link, one end of said connecting link being pivoted to said short arm of said bell-crank lever, and the other end of said connecting link being pivoted to an integral portion of said seat structure.

7. In an adjustable reclining chair or the like, a support, a seat structure, said seat structure being pivoted to said support, a leg-rest, said legrest being pivoted to the seat structure, a link, one end of said link being pivoted to an intermediate point of said leg-rest, and a bell-crank lever having a long arm and a short arm, said bellcrank lever being pivoted to said support, the long arm of said bell-crank lever being pivoted to the other end of said link, and the short arm of said bell-crank lever being connectedwith said seat structure by means of a pin and slot connection.

8. In an adjustable reclining chair or the like, a support, a seat structure, said seat structure being pivoted to said support, a leg-rest, said legrest being pivoted to the seat structure, a supporting link, one end of said supporting link being pivotally mounted on said support, a bellcrank lever having a long arm and a short arm, said bell-crank lever being pivoted to the other end of said supporting link, and a link, one end of said link being pivoted to an intermediate point of said leg-rest, the long arm of said bellcrank lever being pivoted to the other end of said link, and the short arm of said bell-crank lever being pivoted to said seat structure.

9. In an adjustable reclining chair or the like, a support, a seat structure, said seat structure including a seat and a back-rest connected with each other at a fixed angle between the seat and the back-rest, said seat structure being pivoted to said support and being tiltable about its pivot point for a lifting of the front of the seat with respect to the rear of the seat when the seat structure is swung into a reclined position, a legrest, said leg-rest being pivoted to the seat structure, a link, one end of said link being pivoted to an intermediate point of said leg-rest, and a bell-crank lever having a long arm and a short arm, said bell-crank lever being pivoted to said support, the long arm of said bell-crank lever being pivoted to the other end of said link, and the short arm of said bell-crank lever being operatively connected to said seat structure.

10. In an adjustable reclining chair or the like, a support, a seat structure, said seat structure including a seat and a back-rest connected with each other at a fixed angle between the seat and the back-rest, said seat structure being pivoted to said support, a portion of said seat structure extending near the ground engaging portion of said support, a leg-rest, said leg-rest being pivoted to the sat structure, a link, one end of said link being pivoted to an intermediate point of said leg-rest, and a bell-crank lever having a long arm and a short arm, said bell-crank lever being pivoted to said support at a point near the ground engaging portion thereof, the long arm of said bell-crank lever being pivoted to the other end of said link, and the short arm of said bellcrank lever being operatively connected to said portion of said seat structure.

11. In an adjustable reclining chair or the like, a support, a seat structure, said seat structure being pivoted to said support at a point near the ground engaging portion thereof, a portion of said seat structure extending near the ground engaging portion of said support, a. leg-rest, said leg-rest being pivoted to the seat structure, a link, one end of said link being pivoted to an intermediate point of said leg-rest, a bell-crank lever having a long arm and a short arm, said bell-crank lever being pivoted to said support at a point near the ground engaging portion thereof, the long arm of said bell-crank lever being pivoted to the other end of said link, and a connecting link, one end of said connecting link being pivoted to said short arm of said bell-crank lever, and the other end of said connecting link being pivoted to said portion of said seat strucmm.

12. In an adjustable reclining chair or the like,

a support, a seat structure, said seat structure being pivoted to said support, a leg-rest, said legrest being pivoted to the seat structure, a link, one end of said link being pivoted to an intermediate point of said leg-rest, and a bell-crank lever having a long arm and a short arm, said bellcrank lever being pivoted to said support, the long arm of said bell-crank lever extending upwardly from its pivot point and being pivoted to the other end of said link, and the short arm of said bell-crank lever being operatively connected to said seat structure.

HANS LUCKHARDT.

ANTON LORENZ. 

